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Monday, April 23, 2012

Meatless Monday Update

Howdy, all. It's a drizzly, cold Monday here in our neck of the woods. I suppose it's what one should expect from a late April day, but we've had such crazy weather patterns lately, we've had at least one day in the 80s...and folks just west of us are getting snow. So, yeah. It's one of those days where everyone you talk to seems to need a nap as much as you do.

So, I thought it'd be a good night to check in about our meatless adventures. Of course, what am I making tonight? Pasta. Sooooo boring, Meg! Sheeshis. The first "Meatless Monday" post I ever wrote included a pasta night, too. Honestly, though, I haven't had nearly as many pasta days since getting pregnant (acidic tomatoes = heartburn like crazy), so I'm actually looking forward to it.

I haven't written a whole lot about our meatless meals, but I assure you, we've done an awesome job of having at least one "main" vegetarian meal per week. In all honesty, I'm not sure what our exact batting average is, but I'd say it's an average of at least two dinners per week (and almost all breakfasts...and lots of lunches - hubs is better at this, though; his new nickname should really be Mr. Salad). And we don't always observe Meatless Mondays. We ebb and flow like the tide; ya never know when dinner will be meatless, and it's to the point where it's a thought-free process.

Today, however, is a tad different. I'm cooking with tofu for the first time, well, ever. In usual Meg fashion, I'm combining a couple of recipes I found online (here and here) and throwing in my own twist. I pretty much used what I had on hand, sauteing in EVOO some onion, broccoli, carrots, sweet pepper, summer squash, garlic, mushrooms, extra firm tofu with dashes of Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and S&P (a tiny bit of salt - we're watching Dave's intake). Once these flavors had melded together, I actually took some out for some light lunches. At this point, I cooked some mushrooms into it (Dave doesn't like 'em), threw in a splash of balsamic vinegar, cooked it down, and added jarred sauce.

Fast forward a few minutes and I was eating my rotini (was hoping for penne, but we appeared to be out) with veggies and tofu in sauce...sprinkled with some fresh parmesan, dipped with local Italian bread from Heidelberg bakery, and alongside some Byrne Dairy glass jar milk. Just had to be thorough. ;-) We'll have this as a lunch (or dinner, again) option during the week, too.

Overall, it's tasty. I'm sure you could do the meal with any veggies you have on hand - and way fewer than me, but I wanted to use some up (and since I'm not in the mood for a salad, I figured I needed to get the healthy stuff somehow).

Oh, and we're still definitely what I'd call flexitarian. Recently, we decided that we'd also like to incorporate more Mediterranean cooking to our diets, mostly to provide Dave with the health benefits. But, honestly, we were eating a lot of what "they" eat, anyway. Very rarely do we eat red meat (and when we do, it's locally grass-fed or at the very least hormone-free), Dave's a huge seafood lover (usually grilled, occasionally with pasta or rice), and we've tried our best to eat more fruits, veg, and whole grains. The cool thing about Mediterranean is the idea of how many different cultures actually live ON the Mediterranean Sea. You've got French, Greek, Italian, Spanish...TONS (and don't get me started on the Eastern side, but we're not that adventurous). Think of the different flavors we can play with! ;-)

So, what about you guys? Any vegetarian meals that you enjoy - even ones that you didn't realize were vegetarian? Do tell!